The D’Angelo Department of Music at Mercyhurst University

presents

Faculty Recital

Rebecca Wunch, clarinet Nathan Hess, piano

LIVESTREAM from Walker Recital Hall

Wednesday, March 17, 2021 8:00pm

www.mercyhurst.edu/music

PROGRAM

A Set for Clarinet (1974) Donald Martino Allegro (1931-2005) Adagio Allegro

Rebecca Wunch

Sonata in B-flat Major, K. 333 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Allegro (1756-1791) Andante cantabile Allegretto grazioso Nathan Hess

Sonata in E-flat Major, Op. 120, No. 2 Johannes Brahms I. Allegro amabile (1833-1897) Rebecca Wunch Nathan Hess

Estilian Caprice Gene Paul Rebecca Wunch Nathan Hess

The use of recording devices is strictly prohibited. Please turn off and stow all electronic devices. Thank you.

NOTES A Set for Clarinet Donald Martino

Professor Norman Heim described A Set for Clarinet could “be the best, most played, and most difficult unaccompanied work in the clarinet repertoire. It demonstrates an extension of all technical capabilities (with extensive use of the altissimo register) and yet is very musical. This piece is reserved for the most advanced player as a challenge and is a wonderful show piece.”

A Set for Clarinet is an unaccompanied work consisting of three- movements. A native of New Jersey, Martino returned to his childhood home in 1954, and composed one movement a day. Martino’s experiences in jazz, 20th-century music, and early, Italian clarinet etudes inspired the creation of A Set.

The first movement opens with 32nd notes consisting of interwoven octatonic scales. This run starts at the very bottom of the horn and races to the upper altissimo register. The octatonic scale is a synthetic scale of alternating whole- and half-steps and is present in varied ways throughout the piece; this gives the music a diminished character and a sense of restlessness. The other characteristics this movement’s outer sections include multiple- octave leaps, sporadic rhythms, and extreme dynamic changes. The middle section is more calming due to the slower tempo and lack of extreme leaps; however the rhythmic spontaneity and dynamic changes still dominate the middle section, giving it an outspoken quality.

The second movement reminds the listener of the B-section of the first movement, but with a more subdued quality. Similar to other areas in the piece, the movement’s A sections have unbalanced phrasing and continually pushes the music forward only to be pulled back. The middle section uses the octatonic quality, but keeps the gestures closely-nit, giving the music a twisting nature. Additionally, this portion highlights the range of clarinet, but instead of jumping up to the altissimo, the notes emphasized are now in the lower register of the horn. These snaking and turning gesture return at the end of the movement in such a way that it sounds like the music is fall over itself before the ending of the movement.

The third movement is very erratic. As soon as it starts to develop an idea, it changes directions and starts something different. This is accomplished with the return on multiple-octave jumps, except his time some of the notes are a half step off. The movement winds down with three small cadenza figures, each increasing in range and tempo. The piece ends with a short, interwoven octatonic scale in the upper limits of the horn. R. Wunch

Sonata in B-flat Major, K. 333 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Mozart’s genius flows throughout the large body of works for keyboard, with the sonatas and concerti ranking as some of the best in his entire output. In the sonatas, taste and refinement reign supreme in the clarity of texture and the perfect balance of phrase structure. Melodies are always pleasing, simply devised, and easily remembered but always beautiful. Functional, diatonic harmony is the rule, and Mozart’s love for opera is always present in the works’ lyricism and expressiveness, especially in the slow movements.

The Sonata in B-flat Major, K. 333, is one of Mozart’s most representative sonatas, along with the C Minor, K. 457, and the last two in B-flat and D (K. 570 and K. 576). The lyrical first movement shows standard sonata-allegro form with everything in the correct place. The development begins in the dominant, F Major, but soon shifts to the parallel minor, signaling a sense of real urgency with left-hand sixteenths and a syncopated line in the right hand that doesn’t let up until the recapitulation. The Andante cantabile second movement in E-flat is akin to a wind serenade (Mozart wrote several wind serenades), with the opening theme sounding like a duet for two clarinets, followed by a repeated-note idea played by two oboes over a bassoon accompaniment. The middle section starts with a startling diminished chord that transforms the music’s character into a dream-like state—a sequential melody unfolds through several beautiful harmonies before returning to the first theme. This is one of Mozart’s most expressive slow movements. The third movement, a Rondo, is one of his more well-crafted rondos found in the keyboard works. This is Mozart at his best. A graceful, light-hearted theme pervades, with a stormy middle section in G Minor. As the movement progresses it assumes more and more the character of a concerto movement, until eventually Mozart inserts a grandiose cadenza. Following this, the light-hearted coda winds the piece down before three sudden concluding chords bring it to a decisive stop. N. Hess

Sonata for Clarinet and Piano in E-flat Major, Op. 120, No. 2 Johannes Brahms

Brahms was a Romantic German composer and concert pianist. In his early life he developed his musicianship by playing his compositions in various venues in Hamburg, Germany. It was not until Robert Schumann wrote an article in the Neue Zeitschrift Musik (New Music Journal) that helped Brahms become a well- known composer. During his career he would compare himself to composers like Beethoven and Bach, which caused him to be a perfectionist. This led to him destroying many of his finished works because he deemed them to be unworthy; however, this made the works that were published to be true masterpieces.

In 1891 Brahms was inspired to compose chamber music for the clarinet after hearing the famous clarinetist, Robert Mühlfeld. With this new inspiration, Brahms wrote two contrasting sonatas as well as a trio and quintet featuring the clarinet. Three years later in 1894, Brahms and Mühlfeld premiered the two sonatas, one in F Minor and one in E-flat Major, in Vienna. Later Brahms rewrote the sonatas for viola, including double stops and altered figures that would fit the viola better. The opening movement of the E-flat Sonata is marked Allegro amabile and gives the clarinet many moments of lyrical expressivity. The beginning starts with a gentle melody that meanders and modulates throughout, until ending with a soft low tone. The piano and clarinet are equal partners as ideas are spun out in sonata-allegro form, with the recapitulation offering creative variation on the original themes and also some unusual construction of the coda, as it seems to halt a few times on its way to a quiet close. R. Wunch

Estilian Caprice Gene Paul

Estilian Caprice was written by Gene Paul and is usually seen in solo competitions and festivals, but usually played on alto saxophone. This adaption uses the same pitches and range as the original saxophone version, and instead changes the key of the accompaniment. For this performance, I have extended the lower notes used in the two cadenzas to highlight the range of the clarinet.

This upbeat waltz starts with a lyrical first half, starting and ending with a very graceful melody, only briefly interrupted by a quicker B-section in the relative minor. The first section ends with a cadenza that segues into a faster section that continues to push the player through yet another faster, more disjunctive melody that leads into a final cadenza, and the last two notes shared by the clarinet and piano. R. Wunch

BIOGRAPHIES

Originally from Erie, Pennsylvania, Rebecca Wunch received her undergraduate degree at Duquesne University where she studied clarinet performance with Ron Samuels, second chair of the Pittsburgh Symphony. At the same time, she studied piano with Sr. Carole Riley, Ph.D. and saxophone with world renowned performer, James Houlik. Subsequently, she received a dual Master’s degree from Bowling Green University in Music Theory and Performance, and while attending graduate school had a teaching assistantship in Music Theory/Aural Skills. As a performer, she has played in various venues, such as the Nutcracker with the Toledo Ballet Company, a composer’s series at Carnegie Hall, numerous performances with the woodwind trio Reed’m & Weep, and solo performances with the Mercyhurst Orchestra. As an educator, Rebecca developed the curriculum for the Perseus House Charter School of Excellence Middle School music program, where she previously taught. Currently, she teaches music theory, aural skills, and clarinet, while coaching the clarinet choir and saxophone quartet at Mercyhurst University. In addition, she serves as the director of the Sullivan Conservatory of Music, which provides private music lessons to children and adults in the Erie area. In addition to Mercyhurst, Rebecca gives private lessons to area music students through the conservatory, plays for the Westminster Presbyterian church services and choir, and performs with the Misery Bay Big Band and Presque Isle Sax Quartet.

Nathan Hess has soloed with the Manassas Symphony Orchestra, Erie Philharmonic, Erie Chamber Orchestra, Western New York Chamber Orchestra, and York Symphony Orchestra, among others. Recent guest recital appearances and masterclasses have included the American Liszt Society Festival; The Americas Society in New York City; College Music Society Northeast Regional Conference; The Second Sunday Recital Series in Binghamton, NY; Bowling Green State University; Duke University; Steinway Society of Western Pennsylvania; University of Wisconsin Eau Claire; Randolph College; and Duquesne University. Hess holds the Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and the Bachelor of Music degree from James Madison University. For five years Hess chaired the piano program at the Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Arts in Erie, teaching piano to some of the state's most talented pre-college students. He performed in and produced a set of recordings for the textbook Harmony in Context, published by McGraw- Hill and written by Miguel Roig-Francoli. In addition to teaching and performing, Dr. Hess is active in Music Teachers National Association and also adjudicates frequently throughout the region and East Coast. Dr. Hess is the Mary A. Spadafor Endowed Chair of Music and Associate Professor of Music in the D’Angelo Department of Music at Mercyhurst University. He coordinates the piano area and the Roche Guest Artist Series. In 2018 he received an award for excellence in faculty scholarship. Each summer he teaches on the piano faculty at Rocky Ridge Music Center in Estes Park, Colorado. He can be heard on the Centaur label in a recording with flutist Susan Royal and in a recent recording of Bach arias produced by the International Trumpet Guild.

Upcoming Events Spring 2021

D’ANGELO OPERA THEATRE “Magnificent Masks” Music by Puccini, Mozart, Bernstein, and Offenbach, among others Directed by Louisa Jonason Dr. Elizabeth Etter, piano Wednesday, April 14, 7:30pm LIVESTREAM

FACULTY RECITAL Dr. Allen Zurcher, saxophone Dr. Elizabeth Etter, piano Wednesday, April 21, 2021 8:00pm LIVESTREAM

Links to these LIVESTREAM events can be found here: https://www.mercyhurst.edu/academics/music/concerts-events